STARWEB 1-5

by M. Modak

  A look from Joshua’s eyes could make her forget a hard day’s work. The way he held her when she came home was home. Now that he wasn’t there, she didn’t care where she was anymore because her home was lost. Tears started to flow again. She thought that if he were dead it would almost be better for her. At least he would be completely lost and she would have closure. She quickly regretted the idea and cried even louder. Kayla was rubbing her back and whispering to her, “I’ll be okay hun, you’ll see.” But she wondered if it really would be okay? He would always be trapped somewhere in her tangled memories, as her heart endlessly searched for a way to be home again.

  A silent prayer to God slipped through her lips, asking Her to rejoin the boundaries Aughra had shattered and bring her lover home. Without Joshua, she felt like she would never smile again. If it wasn’t for her hope and faith that God was somehow bigger than anyone could have imagined, that He cared, she would have already lost hope.

  The last clip of Josh came to mind. Where Anna had opened the door and pulled him safely into the hallway on the other side. Her heart and gratitude went out to Anna. Without a sound, she thanked her for that courage. She wouldn’t believe he had died on that laboratory floor or that he was hurt somewhere, lying unconscious, as the world spun out of control.

  If he were here, he would have encouraged her to keep believing, no matter what. He always looked for a way, for the silver lining. But as hard as she tried to think of a solution, she realized that only God could help him now.

  Chapter 8 Blazer’s offer

  Fael’s Universe

  Blazer tensed as he waited for the center elevator doors to open. Yrrep had just arrived on the ground level with Whitman and Void. He sent gruesome mental pictures to him of his surroundings. The images bombarded Blazer with the aftermath of a slaughter that had taken place, on the ground level, only seconds ago. The images matched the horrific feelings that had passed over him moments ago, coming from that level. A large cat had just ripped a small army to shreds.

  The experience reminded him of long ago, when he had done great evil. These cries felt as painful as the ones coming from those he had pulled down into the caves below the Plateau of the Crimson Dragons. This time, it was a huge cat and not dragons tearing victims apart, but the outcome was the same.

  Minutes before that, in the lowest level, screams from half a dozen men went silent as a blade sliced through their lungs and windpipes.

  She had done it. He had not met Void yet, but her actions here told him all he needed to know.

  The center elevator doors opened. He had an idea about what to expect but the sight made him take a step back. Blood and guts stuck to every surface. Hands, feet and organs still twitched. He was glad it had happened quickly. These men hadn’t suffered. The ones on the surface, they had felt true terror before their violent deaths.

  Earlier, Master Yrrep had asked him to wait on the subfloor level until he gave the signal that all was clear. He was the contingency plan in case Master Yrrep failed. The signal he just received told him all he needed to know. Yrrep had saved Whitman and now he had to stop Sapen. With the primary objective achieved, it was Blazer’s turn to act; the people in the lower basement were in mortal danger. Monsters were coming…

  He forced himself to step inside the elevator. He used his backup keycard Sapen had personally given him to access the hidden lower levels. His Bio ID was already in the system. A slot below the keypad opened and a gold button appeared. He had to wipe a layer of white fat off the lens of the retina scanner. He pressed it and listened for anyone who may be waiting when he stopped.

  The two elevators on each side of him had just made it to the surface. As the doors opened, small explosions erupted and electromagnetic weapons discharged. Then all went quiet.

  He told himself that those men were trained soldiers with guns. The people below had no such protection. Without his help they would all die. The thought crossed his mind, why should I put my life on the line for these strangers. But he knew what Grand Master Drahca would do and why. These people may or may not be innocent; it wasn’t for him to decide. He wondered, is there a court that could try these people? Who would dare?

  Nonetheless, after tonight, these people were marked for death. Whitman and perhaps Sapen too, wanted them dead, he was sure of it.

  The death squads that were coming had made their choice to use extreme force; he would need to match that extreme force. He let that decision work its way through his mind and body. With all his skill, he projected a pulse of seeing energy through the door just before it opened. A human was poking his head out of the council chamber.

  The door opened and he raced down the hallway and stopped in front of the first man that waited. The elevator he just exited closed behind him. It was heading back to the surface.

  To the waiting man, Blazer seemed to have suddenly appeared before him in a rush of wind. He said, “A death squad will be here in moments. You need to return to the chamber and erect a barricade in the far corner of the room.”

  The man stared up at him for a long moment as his eyebrows continued to rise. He was slow to process the facts his eyes were revealing. Then he turned and ran back inside screaming, “Whitman is going to kill us! A Death Squad is on the way!”

  The tables were overturned and chairs were stacked before them. Blazer hoped the extra, thick wood from the tables and the metal chairs would deflect any stray shots that got past his guard. He could smell their fear above the excrement and vomit from a man Void had forced into a coma.

  Quickly, he returned to the lobby and put out all the lights. He approached the first elevator to his right. From his middle finger, red light ignited and a heat wave focused on the seam between the shut doors. Sparks flew as he welded the elevator doors shut. Then he repeated the process on the remaining two doors.

  He could hear bodies being pulled out of the elevators above. Then twelve pairs of heavy boots entered the two side units as the center elevator squeaked slightly. All three elevators began to descend.

  *******

  Jax shrugged slightly against the press of the other men, motioning to Captain Kurt as he whispered, “So this is what we’ve become?”

  Kurt said, “Quiet, she is in the other elevator. It’s them or us.”

  “But?’

  “Shut up before we all get killed.”

  Jax forced his mouth shut. He had taken this job out of necessity; there were no other jobs available for his skill set. Nevertheless, becoming an assassin… this was on a whole other level of wrong.

  Kurt had showed him the archived video from inside the transport. It showed a large man with bright green hair, “the alien,” thanking him for the ride as he carefully removed Kurt’s clothes. The alien Kurt had transported had escaped. The alien was supposed to be a killer but he now knew they had lied. That “killer” had spared Kurt’s life and had only taken his clothes. Jax’s heart was pounding, he thought, my bosses are mad. Now were going to kill a room full of unarmed people...

  The elevator stopped at the lower level but the doors didn’t open. This was to be a coordinated attack from confined spaced.

  Sounds of synthetic fabrics tightening over tensed muscles came from all around him and he automatically did the same.

  Jax said, “The other elevators have also stopped.” He wondered, what’s happening?

  The doors were supposed to open and they would send a wall of lead and energy to obliterate anything in the waiting darkness.

  Someone pushed the button on the panel marked open. Nothing happened. Kurt pressed the open button repeatedly as they all waited but nothing happened. They heard something and they all went completely silent. Metal was bending, grinding against gears and pistons. One of the soldiers removed a device from his left sleeve and placed it on the door. A flexscreen unscrolled and released a high-pitched ping. A light blue, snapshot image of the other side of the doors appeared on the flexscreen.

  Void had torn the doors of the
center elevator open. They saw one black boot appear from the center elevator as she stepped into the bloody lobby. They zoomed on the closed elevator adjacent to theirs. Jax said, “The doors are welded shut!”

  Kurt commanded, “Put that thing on Ping-Repeat Jax, and start working on a plan to get us out of here.”

  The machine started pinging slowly at first. The operator adjusted the pitch and the video cleared. Void was looking right at them. Slowly, she turned to the other elevator. Then her head jerked up. They all saw a large black form stuck to the ceiling.

  It was a huge man!

  He dropped and twisted, landing on two feet inches before her. The big man looked down at the little woman. His chest began to glow and Void took one-step back. He sent her parts of his life experience, starting with his memories at the Plateau of the Crimson Dragons and ending with his release at the Prison world Medloh. Her programming struggled to process all the moral teachings Grand Master Drahca had given him upon his release.

  She wondered, Should the information be kept? Half of her wanted to know more; the other half believed it might corrupt her prime directives.

  She said, “Who are you?”

  “My name is Blazer. But what are names but a reflection of what is real. Who we are is beyond explanation. What you mean to ask is, what do I want?”

  Void tilted her head to the side and nodded, “What do you want?

  “I am their last chance at life. I offer a way for all these men,” he motioned to the closed elevator doors, “to survive this night.”

  He addressed the closed elevator doors with the men waiting inside, “These people are using you. They don’t care what happens to you or your families. I suggest you press the up button and return to your homes this night.”

  He looked back at Void, “Think about what I am offering you. The tactical situation has changed. These unarmed people are not alone. They are now being guarded by someone, me, who can match your force. Check your artificial sensors. Look at the power readings I am giving off right now. What I am? I’m aware that I register as human. But you can see, I am more than human…”

  He paused for a moment then added. “This is not a boast it’s a fact. Even with all your tools, weapons and skills you cannot feel the passion in my heart or match my skills. I’ve been battling the likes of you for a long time.” He leaned in a millimeter closer, “Void, we, you and I, are more than flesh and bone, Nanos and programming. Is a soul still tethered to your flesh? Was a new one formed when you awoke as this, person?”

  The big man waited. Void seemed to wither as she considered all he said. To the soldiers, she looked like a little girl reprimanded by the principle.

  Blazer continued, “I have seen enough needless killing in my life for all of us. I’m seeking a way for all of us to live. Seek a way with me and we will find it together. Renounce this violence and madness and we will overcome the evil that drives you. Take this way out. At least see that I offer you and your team a way to fight another day. Which is it, life or death?”

  Kurt said, “Jax, where’s my way out?”

  “To prevent biological contaminates from getting into the lower levels, these elevators are designed to be air tight. There are too many of us in here. If I can’t get the doors open and I use this cutting torch, the sparks will deplete our oxygen supply.”

  “Dame it! Find another way!”

  “Nothing else so far Captain. This level was engineered for one way out and one way in.”

  Void looked again at the two elevators. Kurt didn’t know if she could see him but he was shaking his head no, don’t do it. They would have to find another way down here. Who knows what this man had set up for them?

  Void’s left hand reached to her back. In one move, she withdrew a plasma pistol and fired pointblank into Blazer’s face.

  The flexscreen blinked for a second then reappeared. As one, the soldiers leaned back when they saw a ball of plasma, surrounded by a field of blue energy, hovering millimeters between the big man’s eyes. Void’s eyes widened as she took another step back withdrew her sword and struck out at him. The man used the ball of plasma to deflect her blow as another flash of light momentarily froze the image on the flexscreen.

  The picture reappeared as Void retracted a melted sword. The big man said, “I am familiar with all your primitive energy technologies.”

  Void blinked, turned and dipped, extending a back leg meant to trip his lead leg. The man lifted is foot just in time for her to pass. She continued the turn full circle, lifting the same foot high into the air, trying to connect with his neck. Blazer leaned his torso back slightly, and her foot passed.

  Then a growl came as Prowler leaped from the elevator, she had just exited, and landed square in the middle of Blazer’s chest. Blazer tumbled to the ground, slid and rolled over back and tossed the big cat into the darkness behind him as he returned to his feet and vanished.

  Everyone winced as Prowler used its claws to catch himself. Screeches ripped in everyone’s ears as Prowler roared, coming to a stop!

  Void quickly withdrew another sword and struck at the welds on the elevator doors. Her sword blunted but she kept striking until the doors snapped opened. She looked at Kurt and said, “Get the other elevator open.” Kurt nodded and motioned to Jax.

  Void turned and looked toward Prowler as Kurt and his unit exited the elevator and took up defensive positions. Jax’s welder started hissing as it cut into the other elevator doors.

  Void’s form blurred into the darkness. Kurt looked for the enormous man but he was gone. Prowler recovered, his nails had cut deep grooves into the stained concrete floor.

  Everyone jerked toward the darkness at the sound of a door slamming from deep in the hallway, past Prowler.

  Void seemed to disappear as she ran. She reappeared next to Prowler. She said, “Prowler, that one is very fast. He has tricks the other one didn’t seem to know about. Sapen will be disappointed when he finds out that these visitors were very much like Yrrep.” Prowler shook his head in a disappointed manner. She continued, but we have them all trapped now, no way out. What should we do? We seem to be at a rare disadvantage in a head on confrontation with the likes of him…” The cat turned its head up and swished its tail back and forth.

  Prowler growled.

  “Burn them alive! I like that idea. We have other options too but we must not waste time. Lord Sapen hates waste.” Void turned to Kurt and commanded, “Bring me all your incendiary grenades.”

  Kurt stood up, collected the grenades from his men and ran to her. He didn’t look her in the eyes as she took them. She said, “Now get back. I don’t want to waste you too.”

  Kurt ran at full speed back to the men and waited. Void walked over to the door, opened it and tossed six grenades into the room. Then casually turned and started walking back toward the elevators.

  The door behind her flew opened just as Jax got the other elevator doors open. Six grenades, surrounded in blue light appeared. Their explosions had been caught within the blue glow. The grenades hit the wall, and stuck. They slowly enlarged as the explosion inside them pushed against the force straining to contain their unleashing, raw power. The balls of light, still stuck to the wall, began to roll toward the elevators.

  Void saw her mistake and couldn’t believe it. She yelled, “Prowler follow me!” Drawing upon all her energy reserves, she ran into the elevator from which she had come, picking up the blunted sword she had discarded as she entered. The tip of the blade still held a point. With it, she pierced the ceiling and cut a slit.

  Desperate fingers programed to survive tore at the sheet metal above until a rip widened enough for her to fit. The men from the third elevator turned and saw Void’s attempt to escape. A buzzing sound drew their attention back to the now brightly glowing hallway. The grenades overcame the blue field of energy that held them and they detonated. A harmony of screams echoed down the hallway. The rush of blazing flames suddenly covered the terrifying sounds. The soldiers
were no more.

  Void jumped straight up with all her might. Fire licked at her boots as Prowler gave a last painful roar, and then went silent.

  Her bodies’ heat converters absorbed the energy to capacity. Then the fire burned her as the force propelled her higher than she would have reached on her own. The heat melted her clothes and scorched all the hair on her body. At the last moment, when her momentum was about to be overcome by gravity, she grabbed hold of a notch in the wall. The fire below subsided but a wave of painful, superheated air passed over her. Her body took note of the damage then turned off the pain receptors.

  Void pulled herself up a few more feet until she reached the doors to the next level up. After a brief resistance, the doors gave way and opened. When she was back on her feet, she reexamined the information Blazer had first sent her. The years on Medloh had given him a unique perspective on the world she lived in and she wondered, do I have a soul?